At BrazeauSeller.LLP we are committed to respecting our clients and
the personal information that we obtain in the course of our relationship
with them. As lawyers we have a professional obligation to keep
confidential all information we receive within a lawyer-client
relationship. In addition, we are committed to properly collecting,
using and disclosing the personal information we obtain from our
clients in accordance with the new Privacy Law listed below and
other laws of Ontario and Canada. This Privacy Policy outlines
how we manage your personal information and safeguard your privacy.
Your Privacy Rights
On January 1, 2004, all businesses engaged in commercial activities
must comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic
Documents Act, http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/P-8.6/index.html.
These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including BrazeauSeller.LLP.
The Act gives all Canadians rights concerning the privacy of their
personal information.
BrazeauSeller.LLP is responsible for the personal information we collect
and hold. To ensure this accountability, we have developed this
policy. BrazeauSeller.LLP's Chief Privacy Officer ensures that proper
personal information procedures and policies are in place, and
that all firm members abide by the procedures that are established
to protect our clients' personal information.
Why Does BrazeauSeller.LLP Need Personal Information?
The lawyers and other staff members at BrazeauSeller.LLP must collect
personal information from our clients to fully understand and
address their legal issues and to provide them with legal services.
Normally, personal information is collected during the initial
client contact and on an ongoing basis as we work with our clients.
In most cases, the personal information is collected directly
from our clients. However at times, we may obtain personal information
about our clients from other sources, with our clients permission:
for example, from insurance companies, a real estate agent in
a property transaction, a government agency or registry, and financial,
accounting or other advisors that work with our clients.
Use of Your Personal Information
We limit our collection of personal information to what is required
to provide legal services to you, for billing purposes, and to
provide legal and firm updates. If you tell us that you no longer
wish to receive legal or firm updates, we will not send any further
information to you. We do not sell, trade or exchange any personal
information that we receive from our clients with third parties
to market their products.
Disclosure of Your Personal Information
Any personal information we receive is held in strict confidence.
However, we may need to disclose personal information to provide
you with the legal services you have requested, or if we are required
to do so by law. Circumstances that may require disclosure include:
- when we are required or authorized by law to do so, for example
if a court issues a subpoena;
- when you have consented to the disclosure;
- when the legal services we are providing to you requires us
to give your information to third parties (for example a lender
in a real estate mortgage transaction) your consent will be
implied, unless you tell us otherwise;
- where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;
- if we engage a third party to provide administrative services
to us (like computer back-up services or archival file storage)
and the third party is bound by our privacy plociy;
- if we engage expert witnesses on your behalf;
- if we retain other law firms in other jurisdictions, on your
behalf;
- if the information is already publicly known.
Updating Information and Correcting Errors
Since we use our clients' contact and other personal information
to provide legal services to them, it is important that the
information be accurate and up-to-date. While a file is active,
we ask our clients to inform us of any changes in their personal
information so that we can update our files and records. When
a client advises us that the personal information we hold is
not accurate, complete or up-to-date, BrazeauSeller.LLP will take
all reasonable steps to correct it.
Is My Personal Information Secure?
BrazeauSeller.LLP endeavours to take all reasonable precautions
to ensure that your personal information is kept safe from loss,
unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. Further we
will retain your file only so long as is necessary in the circumstances.
Safeguards in place to protect your personal information include
premises security, restricted file access, proper destruction
procedures, and technological safeguards like security software,
firewalls, internal password procedures and security policies.
Access to Your Personal Information
You may ask for access to your personal information that we
hold at any time.
Summary information is available upon request. More detailed
requests that require archive or other retrieval costs may be
subject to our normal professional and disbursement fees.
BrazeauSeller.LLP, in limited circumstances, may deny access when:
- denial of access is required or authorized by law (for example,
when a record containing personal information about the requester
is subject to a claim of legal professional privilege by one
of our other clients) ;
- information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings
against a client;
- granting access to a client would have an unreasonable impact
on other people's privacy;
- to do so would prejudice negotiations with a client;
- protecting BrazeauSeller.LLP's rights and property; or
- the request is frivolous or vexatious.
If we refuse your request for access, or refuse a request to
correct information, we will send a letter to you outlining why
your request has been denied.
Requests for Access or other Privacy Questions or Concerns
If you have any questions or concerns about BrazeauSeller.LLP's personal
information practices, or if you wish to request access to the
personal information we hold, or wish to file a complaint, please
write to our Chief
Privacy Officer at:
Chief Privacy Officer
BrazeauSeller.LLP
55 Metcalfe - Suite 750
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L5
If you are not satisfied with our response, the Privacy Commissioner
of Canada can be reached at:
112 Kent Street,
Ottawa Ontario, K1A 1H3
1.800.282.1376.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Since BrazeauSeller.LLP regularly reviews all of its policies and
procedures, we may change our Privacy Policy from time to time.
Employment Inquiries
When someone applies to BrazeauSeller.LLP for a job, we need to
consider each applicant's personal information, as part of our
review process. We normally retain personal information from candidates
after a decision has been made, unless they ask us not to retain
such information. If we offer a person a job, which is accepted,
the information will be retained in accordance with our privacy
procedures for employee records.
For More Information
To find out more about federal privacy laws, contact the Privacy
Commissioner of Canada at:
112 Kent Street,
Ottawa Ontario, K1A 1H3
1-800-282-1376
or visit their website at www.privcom.gc.ca.
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